Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Chronicles of Kakashi & the Kunoichi from Thunder Country ❯ A Slow Seduction ( Chapter 16 )

A SlowSeduction

 

Rikako had a stroke of luck when Kakashi entered her father's office with his injured genin.

 

The poor kid was really messed up and she was terribly concerned at first, but Kakashi capably helped out with the operation so it proceeded smoothly. 'He probably could have been a real medic-nin if he had wanted to.' She thought ruefully about the need for both medics and soldiers. 'How nice it would be if only medics were necessary and no soldiers at all.' '

 

It was one of the most serious operations she had had to perform. So much blood, all over her, yet he had the audacity to say, “You've never looked more lovely.” Pervert!

 

His compliment flustered her as he had never complimented her looks before. He had referred to her team back then as his cute little genin, although Kenji was not so little. 'He was just being nice after I saved his new genin, and his respective ass. But...oh crap!' She suddenly realized, 'I'm practically naked!' She berated herself as she noticed the outline of her nipples, the swell of her breasts and the valley in between, all clearly visible along with the cut of her underwear and tank top. 'I'm never wearing a thin robe ever again, no matter how hot it is! That pervert! Ugh!' She had always been modest to a fault. While other kunoichi her age were flaunting their assets, she kept hers covered up in public and had not deviated from her usual attire. She did not like men hitting on her, nor anyone staring at her.

 

She was still standing outside the door of the waiting room when the next thought struck her. 'Wait, this is my chance. The chance I've been waiting for all these years. It's time to put plan A into action. What a stroke of luck!'

 

She closed her eyes and concentrated, planning to reach out to his mind to slip him a subliminal thought. But when she tentatively touched his mind with hers, she found he was already thinking of her, warm but sad thoughts. It was hard to see any clear images and it confused her, but that made it easier. He wouldn't notice an external presence. She slipped him three simple words: “I love her.”

 

But it did not work out the way she planned. Instead of getting closer to him, he pushed her away. 'He must be gay! There's no other explanation. Why else would he push me away like that? It doesn't make sense. How could my plan not work? My subliminal suggestions always work! He must be gay!'

 

She was furious that he ended their mentor relationship. Furious that she did not get what she wanted this time. So furious she was near tears, the first time since she was a toddler. As she walked away from her sensei of so many years, her mind started spinning its next web of deceit.

 

'This means I must proceed to plan B, which is training with the intent to defeat him. That means I need a sensei who can defeat Kakashi and his sharingan. The only sensei I know of who can stand against him is Gai sensei. That should also piss off Kakashi, Gai being his rival and all. I need to improve my speed and taijutsu, then Kakashi's going down!'

 

-...-...-...-...-...-...-

 

Rikako immediately tracked down Gai at the local sake bar before he started consuming his daily quotient of premium sake. She had spoke to him upon occasion and found him about as bright as a two watt lighbulb, but quite amusing. “Good evening Gai-sensei,” Rikako said with a smile and a respectful bow.

 

“Otori Rikako, isn't it? Aren't you too young to be in a sake bar?” Gai glanced up from pouring his sake into a little cup and looked quizzically at the dark-haired, dark-eyed young woman.

 

“Yes, but I'm not here for the alcohol. I'm here to see you, sir,” she said respectfully.

 

“Me? What would a disciple of Kakashi want with his eternal rival?” His thick bushy eyebrows rose up. Rikako felt a chill down her back as she noticed how creepy they looked, like black fuzzy caterpillars, larvae of the Painted Lady Butterfly, Vanessa Cardui.

 

“That's exactly why I want…I mean, need you to train me. I feel Kakashi sensei's training is not adequate. There's something lacking. I think, because he has a sharingan, his techniques and fighting style are developed around it. I've learned many techniques, but since I don't have a sharingan, I can't utilize them with his level of success. I don't think I've reached my full potential. And as his rival, your style is complementary. I believe I could learn a lot from you. I've already spoken to Kakashi-sensei,” she said slowly and methodically, without stopping for a breath, so Gai would not have a chance to interrupt.

 

'Hmm, nice speech, and she's right about Kakashi and me, but it's unusual for shinobi to switch mentors.'

 

'Good, he's considering it. I need to think of something to say to convince him.' Rikako stared fixedly at the odd man in green. “Oh, and I really like your aerodynamic jumpsuit, such a wonderful color.”

 

'That would improve her performance and she would look very cute in a green jumpsuit. Too bad my other students didn't follow darling Lee's shining example,' Gai thought, then said aloud, “All right, Otori Rikako, I will agree to take you on if you agree to do three things. First, tell me how you beat my team in the second chuunin exam." 'You guys were so much weaker!'

 

"Oh that, we made an alliance with a couple of other teams."

 

'I see. She is a smart one. If she's as hard working, I could mold her into a super-shinobi with skills in all three areas of nin-gen-tai jutsu!' "Second, you must follow my regiment exactly!”

 

“Yes sir!”

 

“Okay, for now, do a hundred laps around the village.”

 

“A hundred laps? Do you mean around the village proper or the entire village?” She did not feel like starting her regiment quite yet.

 

“Huh? Uh, within the village walls.”

 

“Do you mean along the main paths or actually along the walls?”

 

“Uh, main paths.”

 

“Do you mean now as in now immediately or now as in soon?”

 

Gai was now beginning to regret accepting her. It seemed she did not really obey orders nor did she express the same enthusiasm as his dear Lee.

 

“Er, it is getting dark so you may start your regiment tomorrow. Okay, the third thing is…you must wear the green jumpsuit!”

 

“Yes sir! Whatever you say. I'm sorry for troubling you. Please excuse me and enjoy your sake.” She bowed deeply before she left. 'There's no way I'm ever going to wear a hideous green jumpsuit like that with clashing leg warmers. Kunai me!'

 

She quickly sent a thought to Gai, 'Black is fine. No jumpsuit!'

 

-…-…-…-…-…-

 

Training with Gai was no picnic. He was a much harder taskmaster than Kakashi. And much more of an annoying idiot. They were so different, like night and day. Gai was beyond enthusiastic, passionate about everything he did, and loud, very loud. Rikako liked silence and being left alone to work out jutsu, but Gai was practically on top of her all the time, yelling out encouragement and advice.

 

“No, no, not like that! Hit it harder! Faster! Open those gates!”

 

And whenever she tried to talk to him about the things she had learned in the most recent book she was reading, his eyes glazed over. At least Kakashi pretended to be interested in stuff like how different metals formed alloys and which proportions were best to forge particular weapons. Kakashi sometimes even asked her questions to show he was actually listening. Gai usually changed the topic by ordering her to do more laps.

 

Still he was a good teacher, better than Kakashi for her weakness, and her taijutsu improved dramatically.

 

-…-…-…-…-…-

 

Rikako always wore black because it was practical. 'If you wear the same thing everyday, no one can tell whether it's really the same outfit or not. And you don't have to think about what to wear, such a waste of time. And if it gets dirty or bloody, it's hard to see.' She had nine black long sleeve T-shirts and nine pairs of black pants and three pairs of black sandals.

 

'And black does not make you stand out. If you wear the same thing everyday, then something completely different, you will stand out when you want to.' So for her jounin graduation, she bought the most ostentatious yet tasteful dress she could find. 'Red, it has to be red, he likes red,' she recalled the impression she gleaned when she touched Kakashi's mind.

 

But she was a lousy seductress, her worse rating as a kunoichi, having had no practical experience. It was hard for her to make small talk, hand out platitudes and flattery, act demure. So when Kakashi approached her after she received her jounin scroll, instead of playing up to him, her instinctive reaction was to unleash her year's worth of frustration. 'Oh, I didn't mean to insult him! He was being nice. I'm such an idiot! The whole point of this stupid dress was to attract him. What do I do now? Did I miss my chance? No, there's always the shinobi memorial.'

 

The shinobi memorial. His obsession with it rivaled her obsession with him. Curious to know why Kakashi was always late, her genin team would stake out his abode and follow him in the mornings. They consistently found him visiting the engraved stone, just standing there for an overly long time. Of course, Kakashi knew his team was following him, so he often stood there even longer than he usually did just to test their patience.

 

-…-…-…-…-…-

 

He appeared just as she knew he would. She wasn't sure how to proceed; she nervously tucked her loose strands of hair behind her ear. It had long been a force of habit whenever she was nervous or excited or frustrated. It kept her hands from trembling or shaking or clenching. 'Now can I defeat him at my level?'

 

But she felt a soft warm glow from him, something that she had never felt before. Maybe it was because her powers had improved in the past year. Maybe because he had changed.

 

To her surprise (she was sure she'd have to resort to plan B and knock him unconscious after plan A failed so miserably), he admitted that she was important to him. Not exactly the thought she had slipped him a year ago, but good enough. She could run with it. Then she convinced him to show her his face after all these years.

 

The mask had been another focus of obsession with her. There were other shinobi who wore masks, but not all the time. Even on missions he never ate with the team. There was always an excuse: he had to keep watch; he wasn't hungry; he ate already; he'd eat later. It was more than mysterious; it was part of him and the reason for it could explain what kind of person he was. She had to know what kind of person he was in order to proceed with her plans.

 

There was no disfigurement other than the scar running vertically across his left eye. It was almost disappointing, just another pretty face. He looked younger than his years despite the gray hair. He had good skin tone and no obvious wrinkles. 'It must be because he keeps his face covered up and away from the sun,' she analyzed.

 

His confession made her giddy and she couldn't stop laughing in celebration of plan A finally succeeding. And though she lived her entire life as a lie, the next line was true, just not in the same way he meant.

 

“You're important to me, too."

 

She reached up to kiss his cheek, more out of instinct and curiosity rather than part of her plan. But a sweet innocent kiss was not enough for him after waiting for so long. She released his hands and was about to turn away to return to her books and scrolls, but then he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer for a genuine kiss. A long passionate kiss where his lips varied their pressure and moved across hers.

 

'I will bear this,' she thought to herself. 'I'm close to getting what I want. I will do anything, even allow this bore to sully me.' (The last part of her thought was influenced by a horrible historical romance she forced herself to read.) To reinforce her determination, she entwined her hands into his hair and pulled him even closer.

 

Then she felt his tongue flicking at her lips, lightly probing between them, trying to convince her mouth to part.

 

She felt like retching. She had read about this kind of stuff in books. She had done her research. As soon as she was of age, she bought a couple of the titles she saw Kakashi reading. It just seemed really gross. She could taste his breath, and what he had for breakfast (eggs and toast). 'I can bear this!' she insisted. 'I must draw him in, bind him.' She parted her mouth slightly to invite his tongue in.

 

She felt his tongue touch hers lightly and then across her teeth. Then the kiss grew deeper more insistent as his tongue plunged further in. His hands started roving across her body. They moved from her waist to her shoulder blades in vertical strokes. Her body tensed but his caresses continued. Then one hand ventured to touch her breast.

 

That was the last straw and she pulled away abruptly. "We haven't been on a date yet," she reprimanded.

 

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…” he started to say while scratching his head in embarrassment. But what he really wanted was to throw her over his shoulders and take her back to his place for a marathon sex session.

 

“No, it's all right... I was just surprised.” Her face was very red.

 

He had never seen her that embarrassed before. 'Red's such a nice color on her.' He reached for her again.

 

“Someone might see us,” she tried this excuse.

 

“I don't care.”

 

“But then they'll see your face,” she pointed out.

 

At that thought, he pulled his mask back up.

 

“You really are incredibly weird.” She shook her head while laughing.

 

"Yes, but that's why you like me."

 

She turned her head away and thought, 'No, I don't. Not at all. You are just my target, part of my mission. You're an annoying idiot, though admittedly a rather good-looking one.' She changed the subject to direct his attention away from any further romantic overtures. "I have to finish up my project and return these books and scrolls back to the library archives."

 

"Well, I don't really have anything to do today. Mind if I tag along? Maybe we can pick up lunch?"

 

"You mean get takeout?"

 

"Takeout is always better. It's cheaper because you don't have to tip and the food is just as good and you can eat anywhere you want," Kakashi explained practically.

 

"A picnic then?"

 

He nodded.

 

She considered, 'That would give us some privacy. We can find some isolated spot. If he takes a nap I can...' "All right, I just need half an hour."

 

Kakashi sat beside her and took out his brown paper wrapped book, planning to read while she worked. He stopped before he turned to his bookmarked page. "Umm, if this really bothers you, I can put it away." But the way he held his book firm and the pleading look in his eye told her he really did not want to at all.

 

She shrugged. "I'm used to it. It doesn't bother me."

 

"You should try reading them sometime. They're really good. I promise it's not just the explicit scenes, there's a lot of humor and drama..."

 

"I'm sure there is. Maybe I will." She blushed again and turned her attention back to her own dry books. She did not want to admit that she had read a couple of them as part of her research on him.

 

-…-…-…-…-